The water bath insulates these custards from the dry heat of the oven to ensure a lush, creamy custard.

Ingredients

6 cups heavy cream

1½ cups whole milk

¾ teaspoon kosher salt

1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise

18 large egg yolks

¾ cup sugar

Lightly sweetened whipped cream (for serving)

Special Equipment

Twenty-four 4-ounce ramekins or small heatproof bowls

Recipe Preparation

Place a rack in middle of oven and preheat to 300°. Combine cream, milk, and salt in a large saucepan; scrape in vanilla seeds and add pod. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, whisk egg yolks and sugar in a large bowl until yolks look a shade lighter in color, about 4 minutes. Whisking constantly, gradually pour hot cream mixture into yolk mixture; whisk until smooth. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a large pitcher.

Set ramekins in a roasting pan or large baking dish and divide custard among ramekins. Place roasting pan in oven and carefully pour in hot water to come halfway up sides of ramekins.

Bake custards until set around the edges but still wobbly in the center, 25–30 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes in water bath, then transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely. Chill until cold, at least 4 hours.

Serve pots de crème topped with whipped cream.

Do Ahead: Pot de crème (without whipped cream) can be made 5 days ahead. Cover and keep chilled.

Recipe by Dawn Perry

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Photos by Alex Lau

Reviews Section

Reviews

I cut the recipe in quarter and followed the previous commenter's lead of using jars for ramekins - delicious! I'm always looking for egg yolk recipes, as I make macarons a lot and often have more egg yolks than I know what to do with. I added 1/4 tsp of cardamom to the recipe as well, and it turned out very nice.